A “Lentil” Gratitude for the Table

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I hope all you Bloggers enjoyed your Day of Thanks!

Instead of shopping those Black Friday sales, I’d thought I’d take a moment to rewind, reflect, and share some plant-based recipes I tried out yesterday!

First and foremost, I make it a habit to practice gratitude on the daily by writing down 5 things I am grateful for.

Today, I am grateful for: 

  1. My first plant-based Thanksgiving dinner being a success!
  2. My awesome boyfriend who has joined me on this plant-based journey.  It makes practicing a plant-based lifestyle a lot easier when you have someone by your side to share an experience like this with.
  3. My family and friends who support and respect the plant-based lifestyle. (Despite my dad’s jokes haha) Special thanks to the Jandusay family for making us a tofu dish and amazing vegan chocolate chip cookies 🙂
  4. All of the kind humans out there who are raising awareness and sharing their plant-based recipes.
  5. Anyone who was thoughtful in their food choices to help save our planet or improve their health. Thank you ❤

A “lentil” Random Fact: The US consumes 46 million turkeys to celebrate this one day!!! Isn’t that crazy?

So instead of turkey being our centerpiece, I brought a “lentil” gratitude to the table to share with our family and friends. I found a main dish recipe with lentils and vegetables on Pinterest from a blog called It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken and made some minor changes. Initially I was a “lentil” intimidated by the intricacies of the puff pastry, BUT it looked so tasty and pretty, I had to try it out 🙂 Luckily it was a success and everyone, meat eaters included, enjoyed it!

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Ingredients:

Lentils:

  • 1 cup Green Lentils, uncooked (From Trader Joe’s)
  • 2 1/2 cups Vegetable Broth

Vegetable Mix:

  • 2 T Olive Oil
  • 1/2 Yellow Onion, chopped
  • 1/2 Red Onion, chopped
  • 2 Medium Carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1- 8 oz. box of Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 handful of Kale
  • 2 Small Italian Zucchini, chopped
  • 2-3 T of Garlic, chopped or minced

Dry Mix + Flaxseed Egg:

  • 3/4 cup Rolled Oats
  • 1/4 cup GF Flour
  • 1/4 GF bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup Walnuts, chopped and toasted
  • 1 flaxseed Egg (3 T flaxseed and 3 T of water combined until thick and gelatinous)
  • 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne
  • 4 Leaves of Fresh Sage, chopped
  • Salt and pepper (a pinch or 3) 😉
  • 2 Sheets of Puff Pastry, Thawed (Pepperidge Farm is vegan!)
  • 2 T of non-dairy milk (to brush onto pastry)

Directions:

  • Boil the lentils in the vegetable broth until soft (follow directions on the package).
  • Let the lentils cool down and then place in a food processor to blend until smooth.
  • In a large frying pan over medium heat, sauté the onions, mushrooms, garlic in olive oil. Then add carrots, zucchini and kale.
  • Allow to cool down to about room temperature and prepare flaxseed egg
  • Then in a large bowl add the blended lentils to the vegetable mix.
  • Add flaxseed egg (3 T of flaxseed and 3 T of water), oats, bread crumbs, walnuts, and all seasonings.
  • Mix until combined and chill overnight or at least 2 hours
  • This mix yields 2 loafs! woot woot!

Next Day: PASTRY TIME

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  • I recommend using wax paper to roll puff pastry out into a large rectangle.
  • Then follow the pictures below to guide your cutting design.
  • Once your puff pastry is rolled out and ready, shape your lentils/veggie mix into a loaf and place at the center of the puff pastry dough.
  • Fold the puff pastry strips over each other “in weave-like fashion” and feel free to make designs out of the left over pieces; I made leaves 🙂
  • Brush the top with some non-dairy milk
  • Bake for 50 minutes until puffy and gold!

 

  • Sprinkle some sage on top to add some color 🙂

 

And there you have it, a “lentil” gratitude for the table! I can’t wait to make this again!

❤ Divina

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